Month: September 2013

Although it’s made a name for itself recently among the PC crowd, Wargaming.net has been a game developer that’s been around for the past 15 years. A studio that originally worked on strategy games, the developer enjoyed a meteoric rise based on the success of World of Tanks.

The free-to-play MMO has caught on with 70 million players, and Wargaming.net is expanding with plans for World of Warships and World of Warplanes. The former is still in development but the latter is close to a release. The flying game been in beta for what seems like forever, but now, World of Warplanes is set to launch globally Nov. 12 and 13.

I had a chance to speak with Gareth Luke, Wargaming.net’s senior producer, about the company’s plans for the future at a recent San Francisco event. He offered details on World of Warplanes, World of Tanks on the Xbox 360 and how the company is going to eventually combine the trilogy of games.

“Army Wives,” the longest-running series on Lifetime, has been canceled by the cable network, it was announced today.

The show recently wrapped up its seventh season and will not return for a farewell run. Instead, Lifetime will produce a two-hour retrospective special with cast members that will air early next year.

Regarding the announcement, Rob Sharenow, executive vice president and general manager of Lifetime, said in a statement, “There is no denying how special “Army Wives” has been to both Lifetime and the television landscape. By taking on a very relevant and timely issue, it has brilliantly captured the challenges our military families endure and the bravery they and their loved ones display while serving our country.”

He added, “It has been an honor to be the home of “Army Wives.” We also want to thank (the show’s) passionate legion of fans and everyone involved with the series. …”

FX is ready to cross “The Bridge” again. The cable network announced today that it is renewing its mesmerizing crime thriller for a second season consisting of 13 episodes.

Starring Demian Bichir and Diane Kruger, “The Bridge” is a present-day drama series exploring the tensions on the US-Mexico border. It is filmed on location in El Paso and Juarez.

FX reports that the show is the No. 1 new scripted cable series launch of the summer in Adults 18-49. Season 1 is currently averaging 3.65 million total viewers and 1.68 million Adults 18-49. On a Live +7 basis, the show is jumping +89% in total viewers and +105% in Adults 18-49 vs. Live +Same Day.

I’ve been following Dragon’s Prophet since GDC, and today, the free-to-play MMO is making its official debut after a long beta. Since I first saw it, the game that has a Pokemon element where you capture and train dragons has under gone a few changes. Here’s a list of upgraded features:

KQED News is inviting community leaders, newsmakers, local business owners and residents to attend four Open Newsroom forums around the Bay Area.

“KQED Newsroom” host Thuy Vu, senior correspondent Scott Shafer and the editorial team will discuss the challenges facing their communities. The new news and public affairs service from KQED will feature a wide-range of topics reflecting the diversity of the nine-county Bay Area. The ”KQED Newsroom” team will use these forums to reach out to residents from Marin, East Bay, South Bay and San Francisco to engage them in an open dialogue on local issues that are not being covered in the media.

For more information on “KQED Newsroom,” to RSVP to the events and to submit story ideas online, please visit KQEDnews.org.

The details on the four Open Newsroom forums are:

Thursday, September 19, at 11am–1pm Marin County Office of Education Community Room, 1111 Las Gallinas Avenue, San Rafael.

Tuesday, September 24, at 9:30–11:30am School of Arts and Culture at the Mexican Heritage Plaza 1700 Alum Rock Avenue, San Jose.

A4Tech’s Bloody series Multi-Core Gun3 Gaming Mouse V7 is mouthful to say. The name like the product itself is hard to wrap your head around. It looks like a normal mouse albeit a bit fancier. It features the normal two-button layout with scroll wheel and two thumb buttons on the side. There’s a braided cord to avoid tangles and an elaborate light scheme.

But where it gets interesting is in the software and the three L-key buttons that run down the spine of the mouse. The Bloody Multi-Core Gun3 mouse boasts software that assists players in shooting and that involves the three “Cores” in the mouse. Players can choose which one they want and the Bloody software loads the profile into the device.

Basketball fans like to get drawn into arguments about the GOAT (Greatest of all time). Aficionados will throw names out: Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and of course Michael Jordan. The latest player making his case to be among those hallowed names is Lebron James.

The problem with that is no one can assess his legacy because his career hasn’t finished playing out. But that won’t stop 2K Sports from speculating on where his future could take him. They outline a possible scenario in a fun what-if mode called Path to Greatness in NBA 2K14.

The team at Visual Concepts treats the mode similarly to the Jordan Challenge section offered inNBA 2K11. Except this time around, it’s more accessible. Players won’t be asked to fill some ridiculous stat lines, but they will have to win games in hypothetical scenarios through the 2020 season.

Some studios deal in epic moments. They’re alchemists of fire and smoke, bullets and bombs, swords and magic. They paint in broad brushstrokes and turn pixels and gameplay into power fantasies where players beat long odds, save the world and get the girl.

Then there’s David Cage, who does none of that. His games are the opposite. The head of Quantic Dream works on projects that deal with milestones in his life and because of this they’re intensely personal. For example, he said Heavy Rain was about his experiences being a father and that comes through in the anxiety, affection and extremes Ethan Mars goes to save his son.

With his latest title, Beyond: Two Souls, Cage focuses on another personal issue. At a recent preview event, he talked about the origin of the game. “It’s an idea I had a long time ago when I was developing Omikron,” Cage said. The concept was something he had been mulling over for a while when tragedy struck.

“Something happened in my personal life,” he said. “I lost someone close to me. It was a shocking experience.” And that’s what spawned Beyond. “It’s about death and what’s on the other side.”

With its dual analog sticks and shoulder buttons, the PlayStation Vita is a natural fit for first-person shooters. Unfortunately, its list of FPS titles is short and full of unmitigated disasters. Resistance: Burning Skies was average, lacking the visual oomph players were expecting. Meanwhile, Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified was universally panned for its spotty online play and short campaign.

Fans have much higher hopes for Killzone: Mercenary Developed by Guerrilla Cambridge, the title looks the part of a next-gen shooter. In terms of tech, it’s the most visually impressive on the system with graphics that wouldn’t be out of place on a current-gen console.

Electronic Art has found a goldmine with Real Racing 3. The driving game for mobile device has attracted 2.5 million active players each day, according to a May report. That type of success doesn’t go unnoticed and it was bound to attract other developers to the space.

2K Games is revving its engines ready to join EA, but they’re going a different route from the free-to-play model of Firemonkeys’ racer. Developed by Lucid Games and launching this week for $6.99,2K Drive is a full-featured racing title comparable to a console release.

“It caters to the casual or hard-core racing driver,” said producer Dan Schmittou. The game boasts a player progression system with a main campaign, challenges and a news component. During a meeting last week, he detailed each feature.